Wet-towel winder



Aug. 5 1924. 1,503,858

G. A. STEINER WET TOWEL wINDER.

Filed Fezk. 20, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 5 i924.

G. A. STEINER WET TOWEL wINDER Filed Feb. 2o. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 f/v VEN TOR 6505 @E 6 Tf1/VER 8 "xv 5 t 5 8 e 6 3.. 4 0 w3 5? l e e h S 3 RR@ Ewm mm. E.w0 mm2 h v.WMw ATF. eww .1 w F s* Aug. 5 1924.

wil l 650x615 /Z Jr/VER f77' ron/vf Ys Patented Aug. 5, 1924.

ne@ STATES@ PATENT Lass 'A Fries.

enoasn A. s'rniunn, ossi/1LT faire orTY, UTAH, Assrenoa To sTEINEnsALns Colvi- PANY, OF SALT LAQESE"GITY,VUTE; A, CORPORATION OF UTAH.

i WET-Yrownn WINDER.

. "Application filed February 20, .1922. Serial No. 538,105.

To all LU/tom` t may concern.'

Be it known that L, Gnonon A. STEINER, a citizen of the United States, resident ofSalt Lake City, county ofSalt Lake',uStateof 5 Utah,'have inventedcertain new andfuseful which the 'following is' akspecication. f

The objectv of :this invention is to provide a machine for' straighteningV out the: twists Vandfolds andwrinklesof wet rol-lertowels received from the washing machinev andextractor, to the endfthat when-so straightened out and.' rolled, 'the' towel can vbe fed'to an ironing machine Awith `verydittle labor and with the services yof -one attendant. If the towels" were taken from the 'eXtract'orand immediately 'fed '5to` the f ironing machine, there being r'oom Eusually for feeclingseven towels side by side, itwould be necessary tohave seven attendants r one lfor each towel, each "attendant"straighteningand smoothingthe towel and-'feedingl it 'to the ironing machine. This, of course, would involve considerable labor and expense and vI have found that the ironing would not be as well done andtheitowel would not have as smooth finished appearance whenitcomes out of the ironingmachine'as 'it `would when first passed throughlthe` wet winder and 30. rolled into a. roll-and thendelivered from this 'roll 4to t-he ironing machine.

vOther objects of .the invention will i appear from the following detailed description.Y Y

Theinvention consists generally in various constructions and combinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a front View of a wet towel winder embodying my invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2--2 of Figure l, l

Figure 3 is a side view of the Winder,

Figure d is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view of one of the spirally ribbed rolls for straightening the edge of the towel, showing the tposition of a sectionof one of the spirals before it engages the folded edge of the towel.

Figure 6 is a similar view, showing another section of the Spiral when it has engaged and` unfolded vor straightened the towel edge, i l

Figure 7 is a ,detail View, partially in section, of the tube and roll on which the towel is wound, l Improvements in lNetLTowel `W1nders, `of

Figure 8l is a view of a towel wound on the tube showing itrremoved` from its sup- `porting spindle, Y

`Figure 49 is a detail sectional view of the tensionrodsf f f I y In vtheA drawing, Q'represents the rear wall ofthe casing, 'the sidewalls `thereof and l the top. This casing vis open at the front and the side'wallshave guideways 5 therein to receive the gudgeons `6 of a metal roller 7 that ts a tubesS on which the-towel is wound, the metal roller providing suthcient weight to hold the roll of toweling vdown in the guideways. A Vfeed-roller-9, preferably corrugated, is' mounted below the guideways for Contact by gravitywith the towel roll and in front and below this feed rollerV are straightening rolls l() Vand ll arranged preferably as shown, one in advance of the other vand having a driving belt con nection l2 between them, twisted, as shown,

`to drive the rolls in opposite directions. `Theserolls have spiralsl?) and 13a and 14 and 14@ extending from the middle 'portion of the rolls spirally to theends thereof, as

lindicatedin the figures. These spirals are preferably rectangular in cross section and made of copper or some suitable material, which will not be affected by moisture. When the twisted and folded web of towel is delivered to these rolls, their revolution and the co-operation of the spirals will tend to feed the edges of the towel outwardly to straighten and flatten them, taking all the twists and folds out of the towel web and delivering it to the windingroll above in a smooth, flattened form. Tension rods l5 and 1.6 are mounted in the side walls of the cabinet below the spreading or straightening rolls and these rods are preferably bent, as shown in Figures l and 9, presenting curved or angular portions 17 and 18 to the towel web and exerting tension thereon to co-operate with the straightening or spreading rolls'in separating the folds and flattening the curls or turned in edges of the towel.

Figure 2 indicates the relative arrangement of these tension reds, one being in front of the other, the web of towel passing over one rod and under the other one and from thence to the rear straightening roll and over it to the forward roll and then to the winding roll. These rolls are operated by any sui-table means, preferably belts .19 and connecting pulleys on the shaft of a motor 21 with pulleys on the shafts of the straightening rolls 10 and the winding roll 9. The sheave on the winding roll is preferably considerably larger than the one on the straightening roll. Any other suitable means may, of course, be provided forl driving these rolls.

In the operation 0f the machine, the attendant will pass the wet recently wrung end of the towel through the tension rods and up around the straightening rolls Vto the winding roll, then when the motor is started, the web of wet toweling will be carried up through the straightening rolls and the spirals thereon will take out the folds or twists and deliver the towel web in a straight flattened form to the roll above. Any suitable length of towel may be wound on this roll, usually three or four lengths of towel, and then the roll removed from the winder and set up with a series of other rolls in front of the mangle Vor ironing machine. One attendant will then feed Yeach roll to the ironing machine and the towel will be smoothly and evenly ironed, much better than it would be if the towels were fed directly from theV wringer to the ironing machine, and not` only do I improve the ironing operation-and obtain a much smoother piece of work, but I am also able to economize in the number of attendants required at the receivingside of the ironing machine.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a wet towel winder, the combination of a cabinet having back and side walls,

the side walls having slots therein, a winding roll with gudgeons guided and supported in the slot, a tube surrounding the winding roller, a feed roller pivoted in the side walls for operating the winding roller and rolling up a towel at a uniform speed motion of the towel, straightening rolls also supported by said side walls of the cabinet, said straightening rolls having spirals on their peripheries running from the middle toward the ends thereof for engaging and flattening Vand straightening the web of towel, tension. rods attached to said side walls of the casing and extending outwardly from the casing and having angular middle portions over which thevweb of toweling passes,

a motor supported by the casing and geared directly to both the feed roller and the straightening roller as described.

2. A unitary transportable wetl towel winder comprising aV cabinet having side walls, slots therein, a winding roll having gudgeons readily insertible in and removable from the slots andinormallysupported thereby. apair of straightening rolls and la'feed roller also supported by said side walls, said straightening'rolls having spirals thereon'running 'from the middle portions to the ends thereof for engaging and straightening the web. of towelV as it passes around them, tensionrods alsd supported by said sidev walls and over which the web of towel passes, said rods Vhaving angular middle portions, a motor supported on said casing and geared directly both to the feed l roller and the straightening rolls,.one of the straightening rolls being geared to the other to run in opposite directions. Y v

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of February, 1922.

GEORGE A.' STEINER. 

